50 Years of the Herc in Abilene

The U.S. Air Force's workhorse, the C-130, celebrates its 50th year in Abilene. Reporter-News photos past and present.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News A Dyess C-130J climbs in the air above the Trent wind farm on Friday, April 8, 2011.

Tommy Metthe

Victor Cristales/Reporter-News A toy C-130 Hercules is displayed next to an actual C-130 during the Dyess Big Country Airfest at Dyess Air Force Base on Saturday, May 1, 2010.

VICTOR CRISTALES

Reporter-News file photo

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News A Dyess C-130H, right, and C-130J fly together in formation on Friday, April 8, 2011, in the skies over the Big Country. This year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the C-130 operating at Dyess Air Force Base.

Tommy Metthe

Reporter-News file photo

Reporter-News file photo

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News An airman watches the Thunderbirds perform from atop a C-130 during the Big Country AirFest on Saturday afternoon, May 1, 2010, at Dyess Air Force Base.

Tommy Metthe

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News Senior Master Sgt. Shosei Gemarino walks down the flight line holding the hand of his granddaughter, Daisha Acree, after Gemarino returned home from a depolyment in 2003 at Dyess Air Force Base.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News Staff Sgt. Terry Kemper gives his wife, Diana, and daughter, Kelsey, 6, a hug Sunday afternoon at Dyess Air Force Base. Staff Sgt. Kemper was one of more than 200 Dyess airmen that returned home with the 317th Airlift Group Sunday afternoon.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News One distinguishing feature on the C-130J is the new six-bladed propeller.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News Lt. Russell Neice looks out the cockpit of a C-130J during a flight on April 8, 2011.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News A pair of Dyess C-130's bank together in formation during a flight on Friday, April 8, 2011.

Tommy Metthe

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News A Dyess airman watches the demonstrations from atop the wing of a C-130 on static display at the Big Country Air Power Day Saturday afternoon at Dyess Air Force Base.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News Lt. Russell Neice goes through the pre-flight checklist in the cockpit of the C-130J.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Reporter-News Photo by Ronald W. Erdrich Children explore the cockpit of a C-130 Friday August 22, 2008 at Dyess Air Force Base. Friday was the annual Operation Dyess Kids where children embark on a mock deployment to better understand what their active duty parents go through.

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Airman First Class Phil Hansen checks a vehicle strapped into the back of his C-130 while talking with another crew member Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010 as they make preparations to airlift humanitarian relief supplies and Army personnel from North Carolina to a base in Florida and then on to Haiti. The men and their plane are with Dyess' 39th Airlift Squadron.

Ronald W. Erdrich

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News A C-130H banks sharply during a low-altitude flight.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News A C-130 Loadmaster pauses in the door of his aircraft before closing for flight at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth. Cargo flights not only from Texas, but from bases around the country into NAS JRB New Orleans have made the modest facility there one of the busiest military airports in the nation.

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Air Force ground crews roll a pallet of relief supplies bound for earthquake victims in Haiti into the back of a Dyess C-130 Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010 at Pope Air Force Base.

Ronald W. Erdrich

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News A family member of a Dyess Airman waves a flag as the first group of C-130's flies overhead in formation Sunday afternoon, Oct. 5, 2003, at Dyess Air Force Base. A total of 12 C-130's returned home along with over 200 Dyess airmen from a deployment overseas.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News A C-130H flies low over fields on the outskirts of Abilene during the media flight.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News Major Sean Callahan pilots a C-130J during a flight on Friday, April 8, 2011.

Tommy Metthe

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News Michael Dickey, 10, looks out the window of a C-130 on static display Saturday afternoon at Dyess Air Force Base's Big Country Air Power Day.

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Air Force personnel check out all the upgrades in the latest version of the C-130 after giving it an official welcome at Dyess Air Force Base Friday, April 16, 2010.

Ronald W. Erdrich

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News A Dyess C-130 crew member waves to the crowd as his plane taxis out in preparation for the payload drop demonstration.

Reporter-News photo by Thomas Metthe A Dyess Air Force Base C-130 drops a humvee during a cargo drop demonstration at the Big Country AIRFEST Saturday, May 3, 2008, at Dyess Air Force Base.

Tommy Metthe

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News The HUD or "heads up display" on the new C-130 J-model puts a lot of critical flight information directly in the pilot's line of sight.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Reporter-News file photo In the back of a Dyess C-130 senior airman Ed Alfonso of the Dyess 463rd Logistical Support Squadron hands a 50 pound bag of dried milk to a Somali during a relief flight trip to Somalia on Dec. 26, 1992.

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Airman 1st. Class Joshua Clark of the 317th Air Maintenance Squadron performs a post-flight inspection on a C-130 at Dyess Air Force Base Friday morning, July 8, 2005. Clark is from St. Louis, Missouri.

Reporter-News file photo

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News 'The Pride of Abilene' emblem painted on the side of the first C-130J delivered to Dyess.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News A Dyess C-130 is prepped for launch with humanitarian aide Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010 at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News A C-130 H-model, front, and C-130 J-model from the 317th Airlift Wing at Dyess Air Force Base fly in close formation during a media flight on Friday, April 8, 2011.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Josie Liming/Reporter-News Visitors to the Big Country Appreciation Day airshow wave from the flight line at Dyess AFB to a C-130 crew as they prepare for takeoff to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities Saturday, June 25, 2005.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News A C-130 J-model from the 317th Airlift Wing at Dyess Air Force Base.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News Veronica Bartosh points out to her daughter, Kristina, 3, which plane Kristina's father is flying in on as the C-130's fly in formation overhead Sunday afternoon, Oct. 5, 2003 at Dyess Air Force Base.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News A crowd takes shelter from the sun under the wing of a C-130 during the Big Country AirFest on Saturday afternoon, May 1, 2010, at Dyess Air Force Base.

Tommy Metthe

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Airman 1st Class Phil Hansen sits near the edge of the ramp on his C-130's cargo door as the plane taxies down the apron to the runway at Port-au-Prince's Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Haiti Tuesday morning, Jan. 19, 2010. Hansen and the rest of his crew are part of the Dyess Air Force Base 39th Airlift Squadron which is assisting with the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

Ronald W. Erdrich

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News Sgt. Chris Minnifield keeps an eye on the reporters on the rear cargo ramp of the C-130 during the media flight.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News This logo is painted on the nose of the first C-130J Super Hercules to be delivered to Dyess Air Force Base. Dyess took official possession of the aircraft Friday, April 16, 2010, marking the occasion with ceremony celebration.

Ronald W. Erdrich

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Colonel Robert Gass, Commander of the 7th Bomb Wing, Chairman Jim Webster of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee, and Colonel Dan Dagher, Commander of the 317th Airlift Group, wait as the new C-130J Super Hercules powers down its engines before Friday's ceremonial presentation at Dyess Air Force Base April 16, 2010.

Ronald W. Erdrich

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News The early morning sun illuminates the nose of our C-130.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News One of 12 of the returning C-130's from the 317th Airlift Group taxis in as friends and family of the returning airmen wave flags Sunday afternoon at Dyess Air Force Base.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News The cockpit of the H-model of the C-130 is dominated by analog dials and switches.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News A Dyess C-130 flies over the Dyess flightline during a flight on Friday, April 8, 2011.

Tommy Metthe

Victor Cristales/Reporter-News Airman First Class Earvin Larry, left, and Airman First Class Daniel Osorio perform maintenance on the wing of a C-130 at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, TX on Friday, Aug. 26, 2005. The Base Realignment and Closure commission voted Friday to keep Dyess and its fleet of C-130s intact.

Reporter-News file photo Members of the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing, wearing chemical equipment lie on the ground as a C-130 taxis past at the Abilene Municipal Airport.